Re: So what now do we do?

Yes. For example, land use and transportation policy
in the US doesn't hardly exist. Suburban sprawl
exacerbates all sorts of environmental and energy
problems and if one wants to minimize transportation
costs, including the use of fossil fuels, few, if any
major cities in the U.S. are doing much to forward
programs that minimize energy consumption.

Then of course there is economic policy which
regardless of which side of the political aisle is
involved all too often seems to think that *any*
economic growth is good economic growth. I suppose if
one is concerned merely with the amount of stuff
people in the aggregate can buy, that is true. It is
certainly not necessarily sustainable.

Realistically, though, conservation can only do so
much. Replacement energy resources will be needed.
The cost of transportation when fossil fuels become
scarce enough will start to make people take the
transportation costs and suburban sprawl seriously as
it become increasingly expensive to maintain two car
families with both parents having 30min+ commutes.
Anyway, too many issues to go into at the moment with
the lack of even lip service to (long term)
sustainability in economic growth.

--- Jan de Koning <jan@dekoning.ca> wrote:
> At 07:44 AM 04/12/2003 -0500, Walter Hicks wrote:
> >I have the solution to the world's energy problems
> (below)! etc.
>
> Would it not be better if we started with: how can
> we bring our energy
> consumption down? We (myself included) use a lot of
> fabricated energy,
> which is really not "needed."
>
> Jan de Koning
>
>
>

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now
http://companion.yahoo.com/
Received on Thu Dec 4 11:30:17 2003